Feature:

What's the big IDE? Comparing Eclipse and NetBeans

In the Java development community, there are two
main Integrated Development Environments (IDEs): Eclipse,
which is associated with IBM and NetBeans which is a Sun/Oracle environment. Given the prominence
of these two major players in the software industry as a whole, you might assume that there's a
fairly even split in popularity between these solutions. However, TheServerside.com Readership Survey 2011 paints a very
different picture. Respondents pegged NetBeans at a puny 8% usage. In contrast, Eclipse captured
61% of the market among Java developers. The IBM Application Developer (which is built on Eclipse)
accounted for an additional 10% bringing the total to more than 7 out of 10 developers using an IBM
environment.

What
both IDEs offer

The basic versions of both Eclipse and NetBeans
offer very similar standard capabilities. You get the auto-complete options for Java code so you
can select from a menu rather than typing everything out. You get pointers on debugging and
optimizing code as you go along. GUI builders, version control and other IDE features are also
included. Having all the development tools collected in one application is key for Java developers
who want to compile and run new programs faster than they could using a traditional text editor and
its associated tools as separate components.

So,
what makes Eclipse so special that it blots out the competition? Does NetBeans really not amount to
more than a hill of beans? Turns out, timing has a lot to do with it.

IBM
got there first

The primary reason for the popularity of Eclipse
is not really about how well the two platforms compare from a functional standpoint. Right now,
what we're looking at is simply a matter of better market penetration strategies. Although Eclipse
and NetBeans were actually in their initial development/early launch stages at the same time (the
late 1990s and early 2000s), Eclipse was rolled out successfully to a much larger user population
earlier than NetBeans. By 2003, Eclipse already had a substantial following in the IBM community.
Acceptance spiked even higher when IBM released control of the IDE to the newly created Eclipse
Foundation. IBM revamped its own products during the same time period to rely heavily on the
Eclipse platform.

The company's two pronged approach of making the
IDE open source and freely downloadable while also bolstering its own investment in the technology
has helped ensure ongoing participation from both inside and outside the IBM client base. Today,
Eclipse is viewed as a well-proven platform that commercial vendors can build on to create their
own set of products and that enterprise users can rely on for internal application development.
Right now, it's simply the IDE that most people are using already. That's why you'll see lots of
discussions online about whether or not to switch to NetBeans from Eclipse and not the other way around.

It doesn't help NetBeans that their earlier
versions left a lot to be desired. This IDE was developed as open source beginning in 2000
(sponsored by Sun Microsystems). In the words of the NetBeans.org website authors themselves,
"An open source project is a living entity that
needs time to find the right balance of people and contribution. Its growth is always an ongoing
process. The first year (through NetBeans 3.2), the project spent trying to find its feet. The next
few years involved learning about what worked in terms of open-source processes. In the first two
years, the development process was so open that more time was spent debating than implementing."
That's a polite way of saying that things got off to a rocky start. Today, most of the
complaints about earlier versions of NetBeans have been resolved as the platform has matured. But
early adopters who dropped NetBeans to return to Eclipse still have a bad taste in their mouth that
will take a while to fade. In contrast, new adopters of NetBeans have plenty of positive things to
say about the IDE.

Pros
and cons

So,
now that the two environments are on a fairly even footing in the features and functionality they
provide, what's the difference? A lot of it has to do with personal preference and what the IDE is
being used for. In fact, many developers use both Eclipse and NetBeans -- just for different
projects or clients. Each solution still has its own drawbacks and frustrations. Here are two of
the most common distinctions users make between the IDEs:

Ease of useAccording to quite a few developers, Netbeans is
easier to navigate right out of the box as long as you don't try to use all the bells and whistles
at first. It's potentially more difficult to grasp at an advanced level compared to Eclipse because
you really have to know what you are doing in Java to complete more complex projects. It could be
ideal for beginner Java developers who just need the basics to start with and who are willing to
take a "learn as you go" attitude to the rest of the platform. At one time, NetBeans featured a
more pleasing and intuitive interface than Eclipse; but Eclipse has improved in this department
recently.

PluginsEclipse has a huge array of plugins delivering
capabilities that aren't necessarily available with NetBeans. Sorting through the plugins and
dealing with plugins that break because of updates to new versions can be a headache. Third-party
plugins offer lots of variety but aren't necessarily reliable because of a lack of quality control.
This reliance on plugins has led to quite a few complaints about the stability of the Eclipse
platform; there's a lot that can go wrong as the number of plugins increases. That being said, if
you get the right plugins, it can make life a lot easier.

NetBeans tools tend to be a little more standardized as part
of the Sun/Oracle brand. For example, a GUI builder comes with the NetBeans platform while it's
only available as a plugin for Eclipse. At the same time, many Google development tools like those
for Android are easily obtainable as plugins for Eclipse and are not part of the regular NetBeans
package. Some plugins are available for NetBeans (including a few that can be ported from Eclipse),
but these plugins introduce a whole different set of complexities and the plugin technology isn't
as mature for NetBeans when compared to Eclipse.

At
this time, it appears that Eclipse will continue to dominate the field due to user familiarity and
the availability of custom options. However, the fact that NetBeans is a viable option means
Eclipse will need to keep their plugin issues under control to retain customer loyalty.

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